Google ‘Home Hub’ Takes On Amazon Echo Show

Google has intensified competition in the smart display screen market, by unveiling its new ‘Home Hub’ overnight. The device is scheduled to hit Aussie stores October 23, and will compete against Amazon’s Echo Show (A$349).

The Home Hub will retail for A$219, with pre-orders available on Google’s Aussie website here.

Local retail partners include the likes of Harvey Norman, JB Hi-Fi, The Good Guys and Officeworks, with Google reportedly retaining exclusivity of the ‘Aqua’ and ‘Sand’ variants.

Retail and telco partners (e.g. Optus, Vodafone and Telstra) are said to stock the ‘Charcoal’ and ‘Chalk’ models only.

Pre-orders are also open on retailer websites – e.g. JB Hi-Fi (here), Harvey Norman (here) and Officeworks, with the later offering the product for A$218.

Users can interact with the Home Hub as though any other Google Assistant smart speaker, with the addition of visual displays for viewing photos, playing video and more.